Service drop insulator



Sept; 22, 1942. E. A. MACK SERVICE DROP INSULATOR Filed May 15, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheetl INVENTOR. Maw

ATTORNEY.

Sept. 22, 1942. E. A. MACK SERVICE DROP INSULATOR Filed May 13, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 22, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Line Material Company,

South Milwaukee,

Wis., a corporation of Delaware Application May 13, 1939, Serial No. 273,430

(Cl. 1l444) 1 Claim.

This invention relates to improvements in service drop insulators.

In secondary electric line construction, it is common practice to support the main lines from so-called secondary racks having a plurality of insulator spools carried by steel rack members mounted on a pole. Each of the main lines is secured to one of the insulator spools and in residential areas, it has been the custom to secure service drop conductors to these same insulator spools. Under such circumstances, the insulator spools are frequently overloaded.

A very large portion of the secondary line construction and service drops has been installed for service requiring the handling of average lighting and small appliance loads and where additional service is demanded which increases the consumed current beyond the capacity for which the secondary mains were designed, changes in the secondary mains are necessary and may be required in service drops.

As a result, the practice of attaching the main lines and the service drop conductors to the same insulator spools makes it expensive and diflicult to remove and replace the main lines and drop conductors when changes in the main lines are required and also makes it difiicult to make changes in individual service drops.

Therefore, the principal object of this invention is to provide for secondary racks in old secondary line constructions, a take-01f insulator which will afiord individual dead-ending of a plurality of service conductors, thereby simplifying secondary line construction by eliminating overloading of insulator rack spools and tangled connections and permitting changes in secondary lines and drop conductors with a minimum of labor and expense.

A further object of this invention is to provide a take-off insulator for use in new secondary line installations and adapted to replace the usual secondary racks on poles where the drop conductors extend from the sides of the poles opposite to that upon which the main lines are supported.

Some of the more specific objects of this invention are listed categorically below.

1. To provide a simple, rugged and inexpensive means for dead-ending a plurality of service drop conductors on a single pole and extending at various angles relative to each other.

2. To provide a take-off insulator which may be easily and quickly attached to a standard secondary rack without disturbing the rack construction, or which may be attached to a pole independently of the secondary rack.

3. To provide a take-off insulator which will permit the connection of a plurality of drop conductors to a main line by means of a single connector. i

4. To provide a take-off insulator which will reduce to a minimum the labor involved in routine line maintenance and changes including replacing existing service drop conductors to meet demands for increased current consumption, adding new service drop conductors to the line, removing service drop conductors, and disconnecting and reconnecting service drop conductors.

5. To provide a take-off insulator which will transfer stress produced by a plurality of drop conductors directly to the metal structure of secondary racks rather than to the secondary rack insulator spools.

Various installations of the take-off insulator of my invention are illustrated in the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an installation embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view in elevation of the installation shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side view in elevation, in reduced scale, illustrating a modified installation embodying this invention.

Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7 are top plan views diagrammatically illustrating installations in which my invention is used.

Like parts are identified by the same reference numerals throughout the several views.

The service drop take-oil insulator structure A illustrated in the drawings comprises a spoollike insulator I, a resilient band 2 having at each end an elongated aperture 3 and disposed between the spool flanges, and a fiat V-like clevis 4 including a pair of flat rectangular leg members 4A. The lower end of each leg is provided with a hook 5 disposed in parallel relationship to the outer side thereof. Each hook extends through corresponding apertures 3 in the band 2 and engages a corresponding end of the band. It is to be noted that the hooks 5 may not be accidentally removed from the apertures 3 by transverse movement of the band 2 relative to the clevis 4 because of the substantially close spacing of the hooks relative to the outer sides of the leg members 4A.

In the installation shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the take-off structure previously described is mounted on the pole E by means of a bracket 1 comprising a pair of plates 8 and 9 secured together by any suitable means, such as spot welding, and bent to provide spaced angular arms In and II extending below a horizontal plane upon opposite sides of the clevis 4, a rivetlike pin I2 extending through the arms I 0 and I! and between the legs of the clevis 4 andretained in position by means of a cotter pin I3, a bolt I4 extending through the pole 6, and nut 15 threaded on the bolt.

A plurality of service drop conductors l6 are each supported from the insulator l by looping the end, as shown at IT, through the aperture I8 in the insulator and coiling the end about the conductor as shown at I9. When the conductors l6 are thus supported, the free ends 20 are extended to a secondary main line not shown and attached thereto by suitable means.

It is preferable that the take-ofi insulator structure extends downwardly from the bracket 1 at an angle approximating the direction in which the conductors extend, all as illustrated in Fig. 2, and that the structure be freely pivoted on the pin I2 so that it may assume a position determined by the resultant forces exerted by the plurality of conductors shown in Fig. 1.

The insulator I may be removed from the clevis 4 by manually moving the band 2 to position the hooks 5 in registry with the apertures 3 and then manually spreading the band to withdraw the hooks through the apertures. Obviously, to replace the insulator on the clevis, the reverse will be in order. Since the band 4 is resilient, it will maintain its normal shape shown in Fig. 1 and will prevent accidental disengagement from the clevis.

Fig. 3 illustrates the previously described insulator structure A connected to a single spool rack B comprising a U-shaped support 2| mounted on the pole 6 by a bolt 22 fixedly attached to the support in any suitable manner, not shown, a spool insulator 23 disposed between the bracket arms 24 and 25, and a pin 26 extending through the arms and insulator 23 and retained in position by means of the cotter pin 21. A secondary main line conductor 28 is mounted on the rack by means of a tie wire 29 embracing the conductor and insulator 23.

The insulator structure described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 is connected to the rack in the Fig. 3 disclosure by means of the clevis 4 which embraces the pin 26 between the insulator 23 and the bracket arm 24.

The insulator structure A may be mounted on the bracket B by means of the clevis 4 in the manner heretofore described, passing the clevis about the pin 26 and then engaging the clevis with the band 2.

The service drop conductors l6 are engaged with the structure A in the manner previously described and the respective ends of the conductors are connected by means of a connector, not shown.

Form the foregoing disclosure, it will be obvious that either of the drop conductors l6 may be freely removed from or replaced on the insulator structure A without disturbing the remaining conductors, and that in the Fig. 3 assembly, the main line conductor 28 may be removed and replaced without disturbing the connection of drop conductors I6 with their structure A.

The Fig. 4 disclosure is substantially a plan view of the Fig. 3 structure, excepting that support 2| is mounted on and secured to a metal base 30 which is secured to the pole 6 by means of a bolt I4. In this construction, the ends 20 of the drop conductors l6 are shown connected to the conductor 28 at 3|. This type of construction is utilized where the drop conductors extend from the same side of the pole 6 upon which the main line conductor is positioned.

The construction illustrated in Fig. 5 is utilized when the drop conductors l6 extend from the side of the pole 6 opposite to that upon which the main line conductor is positioned. In this construction, the Fig. 1 disclosure is combined with a standard rack structure 2| similar to that shown in Fig. 4 and is mounted on the pole 6 by means of the through-bolt l4 which also secures the standard rack thereon.

The construction illustrated in Fig. 6 is a combination of that shown in Figs. 4 and 5 and is employed when drop conductors l6 extend from opposite sides of the pole, and the description of Figs. 1 through 5 is applicable to Fig. 6.

In the Fig. '7 construction, the main line conductor 28 is dead-ended on the rack B by looping the end about the insulator spool 23 and coiling it about the conductor as indicated at 32. As in the Fig. 5 construction, the insulator structure A is attached to the pole 6 upon the side opposite the rack B by means of a through-bolt I4. As will be obvious, this construction may be employed where a main line conductor is deadended on a pole and the drop conductors extend from the pole in the same general direction as the main line conductor.

While I have illustrated various secondary line constructions in which my invention may be employed, I do not wish to limit the appended claim by reason of these disclosures.

From the foregoing disclosure, it will be apparent that a take-off insulator support for dead-ending a plurality of service drop conductors has been provided which may be attached to a standard insulator rack without dismantling the rack structure, which eliminates addition or removal of drop conductors without disturbing the supporting connections of the drop conductors which are to remain in the installation, which reduces to a minimum the labor and expense involved in new secondary line in- 4 stallations and in making required changes in old installations, which may be employed independently of secondary racks, and which is simple, rugged and inexpensive.

I claim:

A device of the class described, comprising a flanged insulator; a resilient band embracing said insulator between the flanges, said band having an elongated aperture at each end; a flat yoke-shaped clevis including a pair of flat rectangular leg members, hook means carried at the lower end of each leg member, each of said hook means being narrowly spaced relative to the parallel sides of corresponding leg members and extending in parallel relationship thereto, said means being adapted to extend through corresponding apertures in said band; a bracket comprising a pair of secured-together plates bent to provide spaced angular arms extending below a horizontal plane upon opposite sides of said clevis; and a pin extending through said spacedapart arms and between the legs of said yokeshaped clevis so that the entire structure may pivot freely about said pin; all substantially as described.

EDWARD A. MACK. 

